Current Express pass rules have us no longer choosing signature hotels

[kassonvike]

We've taken two week long trips to universal in the past (the most recent last year) and have always thought the unlimited express passes that come with the 3 top signiture hotels made the price increase more than worth it. On last years trip we found out they do not work at Epic but as a brand new park we just spent a couple days there and dealt with the lines.

Planning a 5 night trip in next couple months I now think I am much better off going Cabana Bay, Aventura, or Terra Nova. We can by a 5 day express pass that works at all parks, including Epic and still save quite a bit of money. If we go Portofino we wither have to deal with the crazy lines at Epic or buy a seperate express pass. Epic is $250 a day for express from what I'm seeing. I know Portofino is obviously a nicer hotel but I no longer think its worth the price deifference. I can price out Cabana Bay and 5 day express and save quite a bit. I know those express passes aren't unlimited but on a 6 day trip there is plenty of time to hit all the big rides multiple times with the once a day express passes.

Anyways, I would have still went with Portofino or Hard Rock even if the included express passes were not unlimited but they also included epic. Maybe they will include Epic somehow in the future but it seems like the incentive for staying at the upper scale hotels is almost completely gone or tat least for the reasons my family was choosing them.

 

[GhostHost24]

I mean if you're only going to Epic sure. But it still works at main two parks and that's where the worth comes in.

There's about 98% chance epic will never be added to express for the hotels.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Boat access to 2 parks is big for us so it makes sapphire falls more appealing depending on how the math would run as we quite like that hotel. And for those who don’t mind a touch of walking, you could stay Aventura and walk to SF to use the boat.

 

[georgina]

We've taken two week long trips to universal in the past (the most recent last year) and have always thought the unlimited express passes that come with the 3 top signiture hotels made the price increase more than worth it. On last years trip we found out they do not work at Epic but as a brand new park we just spent a couple days there and dealt with the lines.

Planning a 5 night trip in next couple months I now think I am much better off going Cabana Bay, Aventura, or Terra Nova. We can by a 5 day express pass that works at all parks, including Epic and still save quite a bit of money. If we go Portofino we wither have to deal with the crazy lines at Epic or buy a seperate express pass. Epic is $250 a day for express from what I'm seeing. I know Portofino is obviously a nicer hotel but I no longer think its worth the price deifference. I can price out Cabana Bay and 5 day express and save quite a bit. I know those express passes aren't unlimited but on a 6 day trip there is plenty of time to hit all the big rides multiple times with the once a day express passes.

Anyways, I would have still went with Portofino or Hard Rock even if the included express passes were not unlimited but they also included epic. Maybe they will include Epic somehow in the future but it seems like the incentive for staying at the upper scale hotels is almost completely gone or tat least for the reasons my family was choosing them.

Understandable. My last trip I moved around a lot. I spent 3 nights at Dockside during my Epic days. I had bought Epic express passes when they were first released and they were only $130/day. I then spent 1 night at RPR for the 2 days of EP at IOA and US, then 1 night at Cabana Bay.

 

[kassonvike]

We went with Cabana Bay. To me we are still very close to city walk either by shuttle or short walk to water taxi at resorts on the way there. Other thing I should maybe add is I usually go with family of 4 but this time there is only 2 of us and I doubt we'll spend much time at all at the resort. Extra comfort of a signiture for 4 people and getting 4 free passes instead of 2 probably changes the math/advantage a lot. I'll have to take a close look again next if/when we go with kids again (our kids are about to finish high school). For only 2 of us, this seemed like the better deal for us.

 

[Skywalker3]

We often try to do at least 1 night at a premier, just to get express for those 2 days, and then do the rest at something like Aventura or CB. I do hope to try out the Epic hotels sooner than later. We did a CB stay for HHN, and it was really nice. The morning bus line to Epic was long, but as soon as one bus loaded, another one showed up, and we made it well before opening.
Bus to Citywalk wasn't bad either. I usually prefer to walk, but it's a bit far from CB, still do-able, but bus service was frequent enough, so we chose that. I really enjoyed our CB stay. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[marmentrout85]

We've taken two week long trips to universal in the past (the most recent last year) and have always thought the unlimited express passes that come with the 3 top signiture hotels made the price increase more than worth it. On last years trip we found out they do not work at Epic but as a brand new park we just spent a couple days there and dealt with the lines.

Planning a 5 night trip in next couple months I now think I am much better off going Cabana Bay, Aventura, or Terra Nova. We can by a 5 day express pass that works at all parks, including Epic and still save quite a bit of money. If we go Portofino we wither have to deal with the crazy lines at Epic or buy a seperate express pass. Epic is $250 a day for express from what I'm seeing. I know Portofino is obviously a nicer hotel but I no longer think its worth the price deifference. I can price out Cabana Bay and 5 day express and save quite a bit. I know those express passes aren't unlimited but on a 6 day trip there is plenty of time to hit all the big rides multiple times with the once a day express passes.

Anyways, I would have still went with Portofino or Hard Rock even if the included express passes were not unlimited but they also included epic. Maybe they will include Epic somehow in the future but it seems like the incentive for staying at the upper scale hotels is almost completely gone or tat least for the reasons my family was choosing them.

You know, the multi-day Express Pass is something I never even considered but this seems like a great plan and it's something I'll definitely have to consider for future trips.

So, with the multi-day 3 park option for example, do you (or does anyone) happen to know if you can use the Express Pass at more than one park on a given day? Like, in theory, assuming I had a single-day Epic ticket, along with an AP (or heck, even a multi-day 3 park hopper ticket), does this mean I could skip the line one time per attraction at all 3 parks on the same day?

 

[kassonvike]

You know, the multi-day Express Pass is something I never even considered but this seems like a great plan and it's something I'll definitely have to consider for future trips.

So, with the multi-day 3 park option for example, do you (or does anyone) happen to know if you can use the Express Pass at more than one park on a given day? Like, in theory, assuming I had a single-day Epic ticket, along with an AP (or heck, even a multi-day 3 park hopper ticket), does this mean I could skip the line one time per attraction at all 3 parks on the same day?

My understanding is that the multi day Express pass combined with the park to park means we can do every single express eligible ride at all 3 parks once every day. Just make sure you check fine print on the passes you buy. For example there is probably still a cheaper multi day express pass option that does not include epic. Just make sure you get the correct one.

 

[BillFromCT]

You know, the multi-day Express Pass is something I never even considered but this seems like a great plan and it's something I'll definitely have to consider for future trips.

So, with the multi-day 3 park option for example, do you (or does anyone) happen to know if you can use the Express Pass at more than one park on a given day? Like, in theory, assuming I had a single-day Epic ticket, along with an AP (or heck, even a multi-day 3 park hopper ticket), does this mean I could skip the line one time per attraction at all 3 parks on the same day?

Yes. You can do all three parks on the same day with the express pass. I did it in September buying the 2 day express pass for all three parks. Epic in the morning. Hop over to Islands to ride Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster. Over to Studios to do a couple things, than back to Epic that night. Repeat the following day. When choosing the express pass date, do as someone mentioned in another thread and choose the cheapest initial day, since you can use it over a 5 day period.

 

[michellej47]

Boat access to 2 parks is big for us so it makes sapphire falls more appealing depending on how the math would run as we quite like that hotel. And for those who don’t mind a touch of walking, you could stay Aventura and walk to SF to use the boat.

This is what we are doing for our 2 day trip in June. It was way cheaper to book Aventura and buy the 2 day express that includes Epic.